Dale Chihuly Cactus

Here I am in front of Chihuly's "Sun". It is very similar to the one he had at the SLC Olympics.

I woke up to snow this morning and had an overwhelming need to tell you about my visit to the Phoenix Botanical Gardens this Monday. Roland said that the only people who will read this post are people who love cactus, Dale Chihuly, or me. So, Mom, I am counting on you leaving a comment.

I love this picture because of the 4 round cactus with the yellow blooms, they were brilliant against the orange glass.

You really need to click on the pictures to see the incredible detail in the glass.

A rowboat full of purple glass fiddle heads.The tour guide said the installer had to do it 4 times before he got it right.

In the mid 80's I watched a PBS documentary on Dale Chihuly and I have been hooked ever since. We went to Seattle in 1992 and visited one of his studios where we were able to watch his artists create beautiful glass. Whenever I am in a city that has one of his shows I have to see it. Years ago I made Roland stop on our drive to LA so I could run into the Bellagio in Vegas and see the Chihuly Ceiling. So, when I heard he had a show at the garden - I was so there.

Rowboat of floats with red glass reeds in background. This was stunning. I have a simple Canon Power Shot camera that hardly does justice.

Century plants (grow for 30-80 years, bloom once and die) with blue reeds and floats.

This was the only water installation. These glass crystals floated around freely.

First of all, the Phoenix Botanical Gardens are amazing. They are huge - it took me about 3 hours just to see the whole thing. I joined a tour and learned fascinating details about cactus. By the time the tour was over I was ready to scrap my cottage garden style and convert to desert xeriscape. I almost bought a bowl of cactus to bring home.

Blue occurs rarely in nature - so the blue glass really stood out. I like this picture because of the way the round blue/grey century plant shows off the huge ball of blue plates. Click on picture to see more detail.

Cactus was blooming.

Chihuly's designs are very organic and plant like. Putting them in a garden full of bizarre looking cactus creates an explosion of excitement. I literally had to stand and stare at each installation. It was a good thing I was alone. I would have driven Roland crazy. I think only my sisters, mom, Hannah and a few good friends could have handled my need to "take it all in". There were 24 installations and I took over 100 pictures. I only posted 12 here. I think that shows a lot of restraint.

Can you see how Chihuly is inspired by nature?

I wanted this woman's job (yes, that is a woman - with sideburns). Her job was to polish all the installations. This blue fiddle head glass is placed in front of the fuzzy grey "Old Man" cactus, which of course, brings us back to the woman.

If you want to see a Dale Chihuly work go to this page and you will find a list of public installations near you!

Yes, there is one right here in Colorado Springs!